Kelly83

She's fine, she's known all along what her various appointments etc have been for. I told her I had asperger's last year, we watched a documentary about it and she asked me outright "mummy do I have autism? " because she recognized the traits in herself stating she was "just like the children in the programme"

Hi Jo, as already mentioned your GP is the first place to go and then he/she can refer you on. If you are in/near the Cambridgeshire area then the best place to go (via NHS) is the CLASS clinic(where I got my diagnosis), but privately I can't recommend action for asperger's enough (where my daughter got hers), they are fantastic! You could give the national autistic society a call and ask for the details of all clinics in your area, I know when I looked on the site action for asperger's was not listed but when I called them a few weeks later they gave me their details. Good luck

Thanks trekster

Thanks again for all the welcomes, had a hectic few weeks so been unable to post. Great news is that my daughter finally has a diagnosis, Asperger's just like me. She scored almost 3 times the amount needed for an ASD, will be interesting to see how CAMHS try and explain their blatant mis-diagnosis,dropped off a lengthy complaint letter to the team manager today.

My first job I worked in the accounts department of a solicitors, long story short I was pushed into becoming the office junior so that one of the other employees sister in law could have my job. I was then sacked a few months later because I had been an hour late 3 times in a row(with good reason, the first day I rushed my dog to the vets as she had cut her foot open on some glass, second and third days she had ripped her bandages off). After that i went back to college and had a few part time jobs, namely a week working at a spar shop (I told the manager to shove his job after being treated like dirt), a telesales job for a fortnight that I hated and got screwed out of wages. Then the web design company next door hired me on the spot when they heard what was happening (me arguing over not being paid) to do pretty much the same thing(sell their services) that lasted about a fortnight. Then I had to leave college to help my mother out financially, got a job at a pharmecutical company in their accounts department, was made redundant several months later. I started a new job in an accounts department for a water treatment company 2 days after being made redundant, I worked there for a year before moving hundreds of miles away, got married and had a baby. Since then I have struggled to get anything, I have done a few uni courses hoping (at the time) to get into web design but coding caused me so many meltdowns when it didn't go correctly I decided it was best not to go down that route. I'm hoping to be a writer despite my poor grammar, spelling etc, I've already written 2 of a series of several books(and had great impartial reviews) and have written down the plot for another book series, it's just finding the time to get what's in my brain on paper(as i can write faster then I type), then typed up, then proofread, then re-edit, add, change and proofread again and so on. I'll probably get it off to a publisher sometime this year.

I've always had animals all my life but at the moment I have a 13 year old crossbreed dog called Cassie, although I think she thinks she is a cat(hates water, loves to sit on windowsills and watch people), she's even taken to making a noise that sounds similar to a meow lol I also have 2 corn snakes a snow corn called Yuki and a lavander corn called Tokyo (my little girl named that one)

Oakers - I thought about doing a course at the local college but I know I wouldn't go. Going to a strange place with strange people is not something I'm comfortable with. I subscribed to a cake decorating magazine, that's been a great help with all the interesting recipes and tools. I think a small tank would be good, just need to find space for one. We got some snakes last summer and their Vivarium takes up a lot of space. Merry - I can bake cakes & cookies, I cannot cook anything else, my husband freaks out if I go in the kitchen when he's cooking because I mess things up lol. I always have to watch things bake and keep checking if they are done. I have a tendancy to burn, blow up or destroy food/ appliances when I try to cook meals. The eye contact thing really annoys me, my little girl can maintain eye contact but she finds it uncomfortable more so if something else is making her anxious. Her occupational therapist phoned earlier to see how she's getting on as we had to see her about hair brushing as my little girl used to scream, cry and lashout when having her hair done. That's sorted now after a therapy session and investing in a tangle teezer( best brush ever!) . She asked how school was since she'd been in to see them, I explained that they are still very inconsistent with helping her, it's her new teacher and her attitude. Her teacher last year would let her go somewhere quiet if the noise was too much, wheras this new teacher is very "she looks fine/ isn't upset therefore it can't be that bad". OT as usual is being wonderful, said she's referring her to speech& language therapist, as she has quite a problem with reciprocal communication that is being shrugged off because again she's not making a big deal of it so the teacher thinks she is coping. She's also going to have another word with the teacher if she doesn't start implementing her suggestions for the noise levels & my daughter's need for frequent movement to self regulate. It's ridiculous the amount of negativity and ignorance we keep coming across. Only people who 'get' her(apart from us) are the specialists at the charity and her OT. She even said on the phone it was obvious that they (CAMHS& school) are not seeing what we are seeing because she is so intelligent and has already learned many many coping strategies, she said her strength and coping ability was in turn preventing her getting diagnosed because most of the people who need to see her traits don't because they are so subtle publically and we are wrongly not being listened too.

You are correct A-S Warrior, it's both, everyone who had a slice had some sort of mad sugar rush, it's so tasty you want more but you know it will make you ill lol! Oakers - I love to bake but can't do it too often as it causes me great stress/ meltdowns as I'm a perfectionist. So if a cake comes out slightly burnt it annoys me so much and if I continue to have problems such as piping bag bursting etc it just becomes too much. I used to be obsessed with tropical fish, they were theraputic but then I started obsessively checking the filters were okay, seals on the glass were fine etc. I gave it up in the end as it all became too much. I keep looking at tanks though, it was my longest obsession and I miss it. I'd like a small tank with some cherry or amano shrimp and a betta, heavily planted with some riccia, vallis and maybe a crypt or two. Sorry went off on one then lol.

Thank you all for the welcomes! I would love to share my cookies and cakes with you all. The last cake I made was what I call the heart attack cake, roughly a foot squared cake, 3 layers: 2 fudge brownie, 1 chocolate, horrendous amount of cream cheese frosting. As for the eye contact it's just insane some of the rubbish the CAMHS people came out with. Apparently my daughter's obsession is my fault( she's obsessed with monster high) I should buy her different toys. Oh and her literal thinking is normal all kids are like that or so they say, every issue she has they shrugged off as a combination of " all children are like that to an extent " and "she's a spoilt only child". Just so glad I found action for aspergers they are the charity who are doing my daughter's assessment and they actually know what they are talking about.

Hi everyone, I'm new, obviously lol. I was diagnosed in May 2012 with Asperger's, I also have a 7 year old who I believe is also on the spectrum. Had a ridiculous battle with the NHS, specifically idiots at CAMHS who say she can't be on the spectrum because she can maintain eye contact( and basically blamed me for her behaviour/ problems). The only person who has agreed is her occupational therapist who confirmed she has significant sensory issues. We are having to pay to go privately to see a specialist, she has her ADI-R assessment the end of this month but at the preliminary/ screening they said she has Asperger's too. My interests are music, movies, reading, video games and my current obsession is baking.